Thailand's Chief of National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) General Prayuth Chan-ocha Friday night promised to hold a general election in about a year after national reforms were expected to be completed.

In a televised public address late night, Prayuth also said an interim government would be formed before the new 2015 fiscal year starts. The new fiscal year will start in October.

"The next urgent issue is to pass the 2015 annual Budget Bill to allow country to get going, considering that the country should keep up with Asean Economic Community," Prayuth said.

He said the NCPO would not consider projects based on political reasons like in the past. This will allow the NCPO to move forward to 2015 budget which should be under the responsibility of the next government before October 1.

Prayuth promised the election when he unveiled a three-step roadmap, which will begin with national reconciliation followed by reform and election.

He said the first step, which would take a few months to undertake, is the launch of reconciliation for reform center in the capital and entire the nation with the Internal Security Operation Command taking charge.

The reconciliation would begin from the smallest unit of the society, which is family and later expand to village, tambon, district and province. The centre would bring people who have different political ideas to come together, he said.

The reconciliation would not include changing bureaucracy structure or granting amnesty to any groups, he emphasised.

The second step is to have a temporary charter to govern the country, setting up national assembly, selecting Prime Minister and cabinet members to form the government to run the country.

The reform council would be set up to carry out all necessary reform tasks. This step would take at least a year, depending on situation.

The final step is to have a free and fair general election, which all parties could contest freely, Prayuth said.